With A Smile
by Punk Trash Noiz
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and Nepeta Leijon is happy. After all, she has the purrfect boyfriend: Karkat Vantas! Humanstuck, fluffy KatNep. One-shot, sequel to Christmas Confessions. Dedicated to theoliverogue!


**A/N: I would say this is the long-awaited sequel to Christmas Confessions… but nobody knew there would be a sequel. I didn't either, until about a week ago. Written as a gift to my friend Julianne (theoliverogue)! If you like KatNep, check her out. She writes awesome KatNep fics.**

Nepeta Leijon awoke that morning with a smile on her face. She rolled over and shut off her alarm. She lay there on her bed and took a moment to analyze exactly why she was happy. Her olive green eyes scanned the contents of her room, and her gaze landed on her calendar. Last night she had marked an X on February 13th, since the day had come to an end. A smile lit up her face, replacing the look of confusion she had momentarily had, as today's date registered in her mind. February 14th!

"Valentine's Day!" she said to her darling cat, Pounce de Leon. Pounce stopped bathing herself for a moment, blinked her green eyes at her owner, and then went back to cleaning her white fur. With a sudden burst of energy, Nepeta flung off her blankets and hopped out of her bed. She gasped as her bare feet hit the cool wooden floor, and she hurriedly grabbed a pair of green socks and pulled them onto her feet.

Nepeta went through her normal morning routine with enthusiasm. She spent more time than usual on her appearance. She put on a long-sleeved, form fitting white shirt with a green Leo symbol. Over that she put on a cute green jacket. She put on a black skirt, black leggings, and black converse. She pulled on a black beanie that had cat ears, button eyes and a nose sewed on. It was the same cat hat that Karkat had given her for Christmas a year ago. After a moment's hesitation, Nepeta put on a bit of eyeshadow, mascara, and lip gloss. She didn't normally wear make-up, but she felt like it would be a nice touch today.

The brunette pulled out her phone to check the time. It was almost time for Karkat to pick her up. Once he had been driving for a year, he had started taking her to school. She appreciated that, since otherwise she would have had to keep taking the bus. Plus she loved spending time with her boyfriend. She couldn't believe they had been dating for over a year now! Nepeta could clearly remember the Christmas party where he had kissed her and confessed his feelings. She had known that he'd liked her for years, but she hadn't developed feelings until about a year before then. Still, she had been very happy and excited when he had told her of his feelings for her.

Nepeta checked her backpack to confirm that she had everything she needed for the day. She could only hope that her teachers wouldn't make them do too much work. After all, it was Valentine's Day, so everyone would be too excited to concentrate. Nepeta already had a bad habit of daydreaming during class, so it would be even harder for her to pay attention. She slung her backpack over her shoulders, and skipped to the front door. She opened it and stepped outside. She was glad to see that the weather seemed to be matching her mood. The sky was a beautiful blue, with a few fluffy clouds here and there.

She closed the door and locked it. She heard a car pull into her driveway, and turned around. Karkat parked his car, and started getting out of it. Nepeta hurried over to him, and when his eyes landed on her, a soft smile became visible on his usually grumpy face. She adored the fact that she had the ability to make him smile like that. He was adorable with a scowl on his face, but there was something absolutely purrfect about his smile.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Karkitty!" Nepeta said. She threw her arms around him and heard him chuckle as his arms wrapped around her. She wished she could stay in his warm embrace forever, but, sadly, school was a necessity.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Nep," he answered as she pulled back from him. Of course, she wouldn't settle for just a hug. She stood on the tips of her toes and gave him a quick kiss. She saw the faintest hint of red on his face, and she grinned. She loved that she could still make him blush!

Karkat opened the door to the passenger seat, and, to her surprise, he got in it. She stared blankly at him for a moment, and then he just nodded at her. She squealed excitedly when she realized that he was going to let her drive. She ran to the driver's seat and got in before he could change his mind. She made sure to be attentive as she adjusted the seat and the mirrors. Karkat usually didn't like her driving his car because she wasn't the best driver. She had her license, but she never used it. Karkat, and anyone else who had been in a car that she was driving, told her she was too easily distracted. But today he was trusting her to get them to school.

"Thank you, Karkat!" she even used his name instead of her nickname for him to show him she appreciated it.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get us killed, okay?" Karkat said. Nepeta playfully smacked him, but then she put her focus on the car.

Much to Karkat's relief, Nepeta got them to school in one piece, and without any close calls. Nepeta said that meant she wasn't that bad. Karkat disagreed and said this was just a miracle. She thought he had been spending too much time with Gamzee, but she wasn't going to say that. Karkat would resent any implication that he was becoming like his weird friend.

School turned out to not be too bad. Nepeta gave out candy and cards to all her friends, and received a lot back. Of course, by the time school was over, she had a bit of a sugar rush. She blamed it on the fun dip that Vriska had thought would be funny to give her. Equius had not approved, but he hadn't stopped her from eating it, either. Nepeta personally thought it was only because her best friend had been to distracted with Aradia, who he was still trying to woo. Poor Equius.

Karkat was waiting outside her last class when the bell finally rang. She wondered how he had convinced his scary teacher, Mr. Noir, to let him out. Karkat was the only one not afraid of him, because apparently they had an understanding. Nepeta had decided not to ask.

"Ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yep! Are you sure you can't tell me where we're going?" Nepeta asked him.

"Sorry, Nep, you'll just have to wait and see," Karkat responded. Nepeta stuck her tongue out at him, but let the subject drop. She knew she'd have fun wherever they went, but she was just so bad with surprises. She wasn't the most patient person in the world.

Nepeta was practically bouncing in her seat during the car ride. She wasn't sure if she should blame it on her excitement, or on the sugar she had consumed. It was probably a bit of both, but it was easier to blame it on the sugar, and therefore blame it on Vriska for giving her the sugar. Vriska was mean anyway, so it's not like she would get her feelings hurt for Nepeta blaming her.

Karkat looked at her during a red light, and he seemed torn between amusement and fake annoyance. In what was likely an attempt to stop her from bouncing around, he struck up a conversation. "So, did school suck today for you?"

"Classes were so boring, but I liked seeing everyone so pawsitively happy!" Nepeta answered. "What about you?"

"Don't even get me started. One of these days, I'm going to strangle Eridan, and it'll be all his fault," Karkat sighed. Nepeta gave him a sympathetic look. Eridan Ampora could be… hard to deal with, sometimes. She didn't think he was really a bad purrson or anything! He just came across as really rude and stuck up.

"But Karkitty, if you murder him you'll go to jail! Then who will drive me to school?" Nepeta asked. Karkat snorted.

"You're just using me for my car, huh? I knew it," Karkat laughed.

"Hm, yeah! You're also eye candy, though," she added. He rolled his eyes, but she could see him fighting a smile.

"Since when am I good enough to be eye candy?" he asked.

"Since forever! You're actually really cute, but if I tell you too often it'll go to your head. Then you'll be as bad as Ampurra!" Nepeta said cheerfully.

"If that ever happens, you'd better just kill me," Karkat responded.

They kept up the banter until they arrived at their destination. Nepeta was excited to see that they were at the fair. She loved the fair, and she'd been wanting to go. She felt bad when Karkat insisted on paying for her ticket in. She managed to at least convince him to let her pay for half of her wristband to go on the rides. She looked around at all the commotion, and had no idea where she wanted to go first.

Karkat was surprisingly patient as she dragged him around onto different rides, and into different buildings. He bought her an anime poster, much to her delight. He didn't even complain about the possibly dangerous rides! Nepeta was really glad to see that he was having fun.

They ate the annoyingly expensive fair food, which tasted good but she knew was very bad for her. That didn't matter right then, though. All that mattered was that she and Karkat were together, having fun at the fair.

They both wasted money on different games, and managed to win one stuffed animal. Karkat let her have it, even though he had won it. He insisted that he needed to since it was Valentine's Day, and he didn't like stuffed animals as much as Nepeta. She promised to cherish it forever, and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. Then she dragged him off to the next game.

"Hey, Karkitty! Let's win a fish," Nepeta said as she saw the game where you could win goldfish.

"Really, Nepeta? You know a lot of these fish die after a week, right?" Karkat said, giving the fish a dubious look. Nepeta pouted at him, and he sighed. "Fine, but don't be surprised when your cat eats it."

Much to both of their frustration, the game was impossible to win! They kept tossing the plastic balls, but none of them landed in the bowls. It was even more frustrating when they saw little kids winning fish. Karkat claimed the game was rigged, and Nepeta was half-inclined to agree.

They gave up, and started walking away. Nepeta was kind of disappointed that they couldn't even win one lousy, stupid fish, and he must have seen the expression on her face. "You know what? I'll be right back," Karkat told her. She watched him go back to the game, but he talked to a different person. After a moment, the fair worker handed him a bag with a cute little goldfish in it. He returned to Nepeta and presented the fish with a triumphant smile. "Here you go."

Nepeta took the fish from him, and looked at him curiously. "What did you do?"

"I told the lady that I won earlier, but no one gave me a fish," Karkat answered with a shrug. Nepeta frowned for a moment. He had gotten the fish through lying… but then again, they had wasted enough money that she felt they deserved the fish.

"Well… alright. Thanks, Karkitty!" Nepeta finally said. She smiled at her new pet, and hoped he wouldn't die in a week or be eaten.

Soon after that, the couple decided to leave. There wasn't much else to do, and Nepeta was crashing from her earlier sugar rush. They left the fair with far less money than they had entered with, but at least they had a stuffed animal and a fish. Plus, they had a great time, and the memories she would have of this night were priceless.

Nepeta was sad when Karkat pulled into her driveway. After such a fun day, she really didn't want to part from him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Nepeta. I hope you had fun today," Karkat told her with the smile he reserved just for her. She smiled back at him.

"I really did, Karkitty. Thank you so much!" Nepeta told him earnestly. "You really are the best boyfriend, you know. I love you." They didn't say those words that often, because they didn't want to overuse such an important thing, and they really didn't need to say them anyway. But right now was one of those times that Nepeta knew she needed to voice her feelings for Karkat.

"I love you, too. You're a pretty good girlfriend yourself," Karkat responded. Nepeta realized their faces were only inches apart, and she wondered when they had even moved closer to each other. She stopped thinking altogether once their lips touched.

The kiss was soft and tender, and told far more than words ever could. Nepeta knew she would never tire of the feelings of his lips against her's. It always filled her with an amazing feeling, and she was pretty sure this was as close to perfection as she would ever get.

Karkat pulled back before the kiss could start turning into something more. "Do you need help carrying your stuff inside?" he asked her.

"No, I think I can carry it. Say goodbye to your son," she said, holding up the fish. Karkat raised his eyebrows.

"How is that thing my son?" Karkat asked. Nepeta grinned at him.

"Because, I'm his mother, and since you're the one who got him, you're the father!" she told him. Really, it should be obvious. Silly Karkitty.

"Well, what's my son's name?" Karkat questioned. Nepeta opened the door and got out of the car before answering. She knew she had a mischievous smile on her face.

"Erifin, after your favorite purrson in the world!" she answered. She heard him say "Damn it, Nepeta!" before she slammed the door closed. She gave him a wave with her free hand, and then skipped towards her front door.

That night, she lay in bed. Erifin had been put in a fishbowl, and put high up where Pounce couldn't reach him. She had taped her new anime poster onto her wall. She had her new stuffed animal in her bed with her. It didn't take her long to fall asleep, since she was exhausted. She fell asleep the same way she had woken up: with a smile.

**A/N: And done! Erifin is based off a real fish. I won a goldfish at the fair last year, and named him Erifin. And he was gotten the same way, by a friend of mine lying and saying she had won the game but not received a fish. xD He actually lasted a few months! Anyway, I hope you guys liked this. Please review! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.**


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